


How often do you read fanfic?

by yourlibrarian



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), Fandom - Fandom, Supernatural
Genre: Fanwork Research & Reference Guides, Gen, Nonfiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-16 04:53:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29944758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourlibrarian/pseuds/yourlibrarian
Summary: Something that comes up regularly in fanfic discussions is how much fic we read and how often. I took a guess at how frequent it was for me but decided to also start keeping track and see how close I came. So I thought I'd do a survey and ask people how often they think they read fic and what kinds they read.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4
Collections: March Meta Matters Challenge





	How often do you read fanfic?

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted July 25, 2007

Something that comes up regularly in fanfic discussions is how much fic we read and how often. I took a guess at how frequent it was for me but decided to also start keeping track and see how close I came. 

After nearly a month I came out rather lower than I thought, about 4 fics a day. Part of this may be because I've been reading several Big Bang fics and some other long stories which tends to cut down on the overall total. Plus I didn't count stories I didn't finish -- either because I stopped reading or because the fic itself wasn't finished. So I think the average is more likely to be 5. On the face of it it doesn't sound like a lot to me considering how much fic is out there. On the other hand, that doesn't count any of the many other LJ posts I read or comment on, so it actually does seem like a lot.

One thing I noticed was that I'm hardly reading WiP fics anymore. This may be because I've been reading mostly from recs the last few months and a WiP isn't as likely to be recced as a completed story. And that also made me notice that a lot of what gets posted in the Buffyverse are WiPs. This is certainly true at Bloodclaim, which I do an update post for, and judging by su_herald posts and other rec lists I see this is generally the case overall. It's harder for me to tell for SPN because their newsletter lists fics by category not by format.

So I thought I'd do a survey and ask people how often they think they read fic and what kinds they read.

Participants: 371

1) I read fanfic...

 **At least once a day 222 (59.8%)**  
At least once a week 110 (29.6%)  
A few times a month 25 (6.7%)  
At least once a month 8 (2.2%)  
Less than once a month 6 (1.6%)

2) I read

 **Only completed fic 4 (1.1%)**  
Drabbles 0 (0.0%)  
Short fics (under 3000 words) 1 (0.3%)  
Medium length fics (3000 to 15,000 words) 1 (0.3%)  
Longer fics (over 15,000 words) 0 (0.0%)  
Works in progress (WiP) 0(0.0%)

3) I probably read about X total fics per week (do not count drabbles)

0 8 (2.2%)  
1-2 49 (13.4%)  
3-4 55 (15.0%)  
**5-7 67 (18.3%)**  
8-11 44 (12.0%)  
11-14 29 (7.9%)  
15-20 31 (8.4%)  
21-25 28 (7.6%)  
26-31 16 (4.4%)  
32-40 9 (2.5%)  
Over 40 31 (8.4%)

4) I would like to

 **I would read more if I found more stories I liked 148 (40.1%)**  
Have more time to read fanfic 118 (32.0%)  
Read about the same amount I do now 81 (22.0%)  
Read less fanfic than I do now 22 (6.0%)

5) Compared to a year ago I am reading

 **About the same amount as I used to 169 (45.9%)**  
Less fanfic than I used to 113 (30.7%)  
More fanfic than I used to 86 (23.4%)

6) Most of the fanfic I've been reading lately is in

**A mix of several fandoms 155 (41.9%)**  
Some other fandom 105 (28.4%)  
BtVS or AtS 77 (20.8%)  
Supernatural 33 (8.9%)  


* * *

There were a number of comments to the poll which raised a variety of additional issues:

* Other fandoms read in include Heroes, Bones, Dark Angel, Harry Potter, Due South, Queer as Folk, Crossovers, Doctor Who, Life on Mars, Blakes 7, Drakes Venture, Xena, Trigun, Tolkien, Stargate Atlantis, Torchwood, Battlestar Galatica, 

* People engaged in a lot of writing or other fandom activities don't have time for a lot of reading. This can be cyclical, with reading modes, writing modes, and other participant roles.

* People who are mods of a community, particularly something like a challenge one, read more content as part of that role.

* Some people read only completed works, so they read less. 

* People may read fic depending on available time, so only shorter works or concentrating on longer ones.

* Open canon fandoms may get read more heavily than closed canon ones.

* Some people prefer closed canons because the story isn't changing as canon changes.

* Getting into a closed canon fandom means you can discover how the show was interpreted by different clumps of people. It can give you a whole new view of the text. That's hard to pin down while it's still going.

* Closed canon texts may also fall into categories, which make it easier to choose something to fit your mood.

* May read more to keep up with what people they follow are writing.

* Some people bookmark/tag works they read so they can keep a count.

* Some read mostly through recs or a few known authors because they don't have time to go looking for works to read.


End file.
